From the beginning of commerce, packaging has been indispensable in the movement of many kinds of products. Animal skins, baskets woven from reeds, and earthenware vessels may be considered the packages of prehistoric man. The ancient world contributed glass bottles, clay amphorae, and leather bags. The cask was probably an invention of the middle ages. But it was not until the Industrial Revolution, which created a need for packaging great numbers of similar items for shipping, that the packaging industry became economically important.
Virtually all modern manufactured and processed goods require a packaging at some stage of their production and distribution. Fresh foods need the protection and convenience that packaging gives. Specialized knowledge and skills, as well as specific machinery and facilities, are required to produce packages that meet one or more of five basic demands: protection from the environment; containment as a handlable unit; machine performance in the packaging process (such as on filling machines); communication to identify contents and to aid in marketing; and convenience to everyone concerned with the making, distribution, and use of the product; in addition, disposal of the package must be easy.
Of the large number of plastic materials available in the early 1970's, only a few have made a substantial impact on packaging: polyethylene (often referred to as polythene), polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and polypropylene. Others, such as thermosetting resins and saran have limited applications as closures and coatings. More than half the polythene is used in film form and much is converted into shrink film, liners, sacks, and bags. Some is used in the form of models, a little for larger specialized containers, and the remainder for coatings or laminates. Polystyrene is principally made into tubs for ice cream, packs for eggs, sausages, and small pots or jars for butter, jam, and cheese; or used in expanded form for packaging typewriters, record players, and other delicate machinery; or formed from expanded sheet into trays for fresh foods, cameras, or other lighter weight goods needing attractive protection against shock damage. Polyvinyl chloride is used typically for bottles for soft drinks, cooking oil and vinegar, and as trays for chocolates. The use of polypropelene is growing rapidly, especially as a transparent overwrap, in which it has strength advantages over cellulose film.
Molded thermoplastic containers are produced by blow molding, injection molding, or thermoforming. They generally have no special names, but are given the same description as the traditional containers that they emulate. The same type of container can often be made by more than one method. Thus, bottles are produced by either blowing or injection molding, and tubs can be produced by all three processes.
Polystyrene is the main plastic used for injection-molded containers, but polypropelene is beginning to be employed in this field. Such containers are light in weight and chemically inert, and those from polystyrene can be produced in glass-clear form, if required. Polystyrene frequently is toughened by the addition of a small percentage of synthetic rubber, allowing it to be vacuum-formed into deep containers.
Many chemical products have obnoxious or hazardous properties. Explosives, poisonous materials and liquids that are corrosive or produce dermatitic or skin irritant effects, inflammable goods, materials that react either with air or water, radioactive materials, and the materials that are likely to cause spontaneous combustion all require special selection of materials and arrangements for packaging. More recently, and most importantly, the spread of AIDS-contaminated blood has required special care in the transportation, packaging, and shipment of blood products to laboratories. Further, disease-laden biological products require similar care in transport and shipment.
Present methods of shipping these hazardous biological products leave much to be desired. Typically, the blood samples are placed into a test tube and the test tube is sealed. Following the sealing of the test tube, the biological products are placed into a styrofoam overwrap or into a cardboard container. Shipping is conducted in common fashion from the clinic to the laboratory for testing. In the past, it has been very common for the blood samples to be crushed, damaged, or otherwise contaminated because of bad handling during the postal process. Heretofore, there has been no secure way of assuring that such contaminated blood would not permeate the package. In addition, countless man-hours and dollars have been wasted because of the improper and ineffective packaging and shipping of these biological products.
In addition to AIDS-contaminated blood, testing labs will receive a variety of biological products for testing. These include analysis of regular blood samples, serums, spinal fluids, and urine specimens. These specimens can be both human and animal. The difficulties inherent in the packaging and shipping of these biological products has created many problems in the past.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a shipping tube for the safe transport of biological products.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a shipping tube that is easy to load and easy to unload.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a shipping tube that prevents the inadvertent misuse of the shipping tube.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a shipping tube that allows identification information to be aligned in a visually perceivable location.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a shipping tube that prevents the accidental leakage or contamination of the biological product contained within the shipping tube.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.